Every Picture Tells a Story - Athena - Engage Your Mind

Every
Picture
Tells a
Story
a viewer’s guide

ca. 1750 (oil on canvas)
National Gallery, London
EpisodE 1
Mr and Mrs Andrews
by Thomas Gainsborough
Highlights
In his portrait of two aristocratic 18th-century British landowners,
Gainsborough may have intended to depict bird carcasses in the
unfinished area in the lady’s lap as a not-so-subtle comment on the
couple’s marriage and social position.
Questions to Consider
1. Does the painting appeal to you? Why do you think critics consider it
a masterpiece?
2. Other critics have speculated that the artist could have intended to
paint a child’s portrait or book in the void in Mrs. Andrew’s lap. What
significance do you think those objects would have had? Why else
might Gainsborough have left the area unfinished?
3. If Mr. and Mrs. Andrews did indeed stop Gainsborough from
including a symbolic social critique in the painting, how do you think
the incident could have affected his ability to get commissions to
paint the celebrities of his day?
Other works Featured
Mary, Countess Howe (ca. 1763), Thomas Gainsborough
Mrs Sarah Siddons (1785), Thomas Gainsborough
William Poyntz (1762), Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough with His Wife and Elder Daughter, Mary
(ca. 1751), Thomas Gainsborough
Two Daughters with Cat (ca. 1759), Thomas Gainsborough
Peter Darnell Muilman, Charles Croake, and William Keable in a
Landscape (ca. 1750), Thomas Gainsborough
Girl with Pigs (1782), Thomas Gainsborough
The Four Elements: Air (1570), Joachim Beuckelaer
1

1632 (oil on canvas)
Mauritshuis, The Hague
EpisodE 2
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp
by Rembrandt
Highlights
Rembrandt suggests Christian iconography in his portrait of a
criminal’s cadaver and puts us, the viewers, in the position of the
audience often depicted in such paintings.
Questions to Consider
1. Why do you think the 17th century Dutch were so fascinated by
cadaver dissections?
2. What elements of the painting appeal to you? In your opinion, what
identifies it as a Rembrandt?
3. Do you think the fascination with dissection has any parallels in
modern painting, photography, or film? Why or why not?
Other works Featured
Self Portrait as the Apostle St. Paul (1661), Rembrandt
The Descent from the Cross (1633), Rembrandt
Flayed Ox (1655), Rembrandt
Dead Peacocks (ca. 1639), Rembrandt
Anatomy drawing from the Leiden Anatomy Theatre (1609),
J.C. Woudanus
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertszoon (ca. 1601-03),
Aert Pieterszoon
Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertszoon’s Osteological Presentation (1619),
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Frederick Ruysch (1683), Jan van Neck
Self Portrait (1628), Rembrandt
Still Life with Flowers (1639), Hans Bollongier
The Night Watch (1642), Rembrandt
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Joan Deyman (1656), Rembrandt
3

ca. 1505 (oil on canvas)
Galleria dell 'Accademia, Venice
EpisodE 3
The Tempest
by Giorgione
Highlights
In The Tempest, Giorgione depicts the ancient Greek story of the
goddess Demeter and her mortal lover Iasion, whom Zeus struck
down with a lightning bolt.
Questions to Consider
1. How do you react to the painting on a personal level?
2. What elements of the painting give it such a “charged” atmosphere?
3. In some versions of the Greek myth, Iasion and Demeter’s dalliance
produced not one, but two sons—Plutus (god of wealth) and
Philomelus (who invented the plough). How does this version
influence the interpretation of the painting?
Other works Featured
Sleeping Venus (ca. 1510), Giorgione
Judith (ca. 1504), Giorgione
Laura (1506), Giorgione
Three Philosophers (ca. 1508/09), Giorgione
The Vendramin Family (mid 1540s), Titian
Miracle of the True Cross at the Bridge of San Lorenzo (1500),
Gentile Bellini
Portrait of Lord Byron in Albanian Dress (ca. 1835), Thomas Phillips
Feast in the House of Levi (1573), Paolo Veronese
Danae (ca. 1560), Titian
Diana and Callisto (1556-59), Titian
Jupiter and Io (1532), Antonio da Corregio
Rape of Ganymede (1635), Rembrandt
5

ca. 1485 (tempera on canvas)
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
EpisodE 4
The Birth of Venus
by Botticelli
Highlights
Botticelli depicts Venus not as a primarily erotic figure, but as a
symbol of fertility.
Questions to Consider
1. What do you appreciate most about The Birth of Venus?
2. Have you seen the painting elsewhere in popular culture? Does that
impact your experience of the painting?
3. Januszczak draws many clues for his interpretation from the house
where the Venus hung and other paintings located there. To what
extent should context influence our interpretation of art? Have you
ever changed your views of a piece of art, literature, or film upon
learning its context?
4. How much weight do you give to symbols when evaluating or
appreciating a work of art?
Other works Featured
Adoration of the Magi (1475), Botticelli
Fortitude (ca. 1470), Botticelli
Madonna of the Pomegranate (ca. 1487), Botticelli
Madonna of the Magnificat (ca. 1481), Botticelli
The Adoration of the Magi (ca. 1478/82), Botticelli
Portrait of a Man with Medal of Cosimo the Elder (ca. 1474-75),
Botticelli
Venus and Mars (ca. 1485), Botticelli
The Birth of Venus (1863), Alexandre Cabanel
La Primavera (ca. 1482), Botticelli
7

ca. 1595-1600 (oil on canvas)
National Gallery, London
EpisodE 5
Boy Bitten by a Lizard
by Caravaggio
Highlights
Caravaggio’s painting contains a lesson to the viewer about
the transience of youth, the perils of sensual pleasure, and the
precariousness of life.
Questions to Consider
1. How do you react to the painting? Does your impression change after
the first glance?
2. What elements of the painting give it a sense of intimacy?
3. Do you share Januszczak’s sympathies with the lizard, rather than
the boy? Why or why not?
Other works Featured
Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist (1607-1610), Caravaggio
Young Bacchus (1593), Caravaggio
The Fortune Teller (ca. 1595), Caravaggio
The Cardsharps (ca. 1594), Caravaggio
The Taking of Christ (1602), Caravaggio
The Lute Player (ca. 1596), Caravaggio
Contarelli Chapel paintings, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi:
The Calling of St. Matthew, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew,
The Inspiration of St. Matthew (1597-1602), Caravaggio
The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (1608), Caravaggio
The Sacrifice of Isaac (1601-02), Caravaggio
David (1609-10), Caravaggio
Bacchus (ca. 1596), Caravaggio
Boy with a Fruit Basket (1593), Caravaggio
St. Jerome (1605-1606), Caravaggio
A Table Laden with Flowers and Fruit (ca. 1600-10), Master of the
Hartford Still-Life
9

ca. 1503-06 (oil on wood panel)
Louvre, Paris
EpisodE 6
Mona Lisa
by Leonardo da Vinci
Highlights
A robbery and attempted forgery in 1911 helped propel Mona Lisa to
its position as the most famous painting in the world.
Questions to Consider
1. Do you find Mona Lisa particularly compelling as a painting?
2. Can you think of other artworks that have inspired tchotchkes such
as ashtrays and refrigerator magnets, as Mona Lisa has? How do
those products affect your appreciation of the original work?
3. Do you know of other famous forgeries or stolen pieces of art? What
effects do you think these had on the artists’ reputations, the art
community, the public, and the works themselves?
Other works Featured
Self-portrait in red chalk (1512-15), Leonardo da Vinci
Ginevra de’ Benci (ca. 1474/78), Leonardo da Vinci
Madonna Benois (1475-78), Leonardo da Vinci
The Last Supper (1495-98), Leonardo da Vinci
11

ca. 1863 (oil on canvas)
Musée d' Orsay, Paris
EpisodE 7
Le déjeuner sur l’herbe
by Édouard Manet
Highlights
Perhaps motivated by the hypocrisy of his father, Manet set out to
paint a deliberately shocking—even sacrilegious—work, updating and
mocking old masters.
Questions to Consider
1. What do you think of Januszczak’s theory that Auguste Manet had
an illicit affair with his sons’ piano teacher, Suzanne Leenhoff, whom
Édouard married after his father’s death?
2. How does the truth or falsehood of the senior Manet’s alleged affair
affect your reaction to the painting?
3. What evidence do you find in the paintings to support the notion that
Manet felt a sexual attraction to his model, Victorine Meurent?
Other works Featured
Mlle. Victorine in the Costume of an Espada (1862), Édouard Manet
Young Lady in 1866 (1866), Édouard Manet
Olympia (1863), Édouard Manet
Street Singer (1862), Édouard Manet
Les Romaines de la Décadence (1847), Thomas Couture
Self-Portrait with Palette (1879), Édouard Manet
Portrait of M. and Mme. Auguste Manet (1860), Édouard Manet
13

1434 (oil on oak panel)
National Gallery, London
EpisodE 8
The Arnolfini Marriage
by Jan van Eyck
Highlights
Rather than documenting the marriage of a rich merchant family,
van Eyck’s work memorializes the couple’s pregnancy—probably
after the woman had died in childbirth.
Questions to Consider
1. If artists often used fruit on windowsills as a symbol of Adam and
Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, why does it so often appear in
paintings of the Virgin Mary—who, in Catholic tradition, was free of
original sin?
2. Apart from the mysterious purpose of The Arnolfini Marriage, what
makes it a masterpiece? What draws you to the painting?
3. If you accept the interpretation of the Marriage as a posthumous
portrait of Mme. Arnolfini, how does it affect your response to the
painting as a work of art?
Other works Featured
Lucca Madonna (1436), Jan van Eyck
Ince Hall Madonna (1433), Jan van Eyck
Ghent Altarpiece/Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (1432), Jan van Eyck
Madonna of the Cherries (ca. 1535), Joos van Cleve
Portrait of a Man/Self Portrait (1433), Jan van Eyck
Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini (1435), Jan van Eyck
The Annunciation (ca. 1525), Joos van Cleve
Portrait of a Woman in Red (1620), Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
15

episode 1: Mr and Mrs Andrews
Asfour, Amal and Paul
Williamson. Gainsborough’s
Vision. Liverpool: Liverpool
University Press, 1999.
Lindsay, Jack. Thomas
Gainsborough: His Life and
Art. New York: Granada, 1982.
Postle, Martin. Thomas Gainsborough.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Rosenthal, Michael. The Art of Thomas
Gainsborough: "A Little Business for the Eye."
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
episode 2: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp
Berger, Harry, Jr. Manhood,
Marriage & Mischief:
Rembrandt’s "Night Watch"
and Other Dutch Group
Portraits. New York:
Fordham University
Press, 2007.
Bomford, David. Rembrandt. London:
National Gallery, 2006.
AvEnuEs for furthEr lEArning
Schwartz, Gary. The Rembrandt Book. New
York: H.N. Abrams, 2006.
Taylor, Michael. Rembrandt’s Nose: Of Flesh
and Spirit in the Master’s Portraits. New
York: Distributed Art Publishers, 2007.
16
episode 3: The Tempest
Anderson, Jaynie.
Giorgione: The Painter of
"Poetic Brevity." New York:
Flammarion, 1997.
Eller, Wolfgang L.
Giorgione: Catalogue
Raisonne: Mystery Unveiled. Petersberg,
Germany: Michael Imhof, 2007.
Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia, and Giovanna Nepi
Sciré. Giorgione: Myth and Enigma. Milan:
Skira, 2004.
Settis, Salvatore. Giorgione’s "Tempest":
Interpreting the Hidden Subject. Trans. Ellen
Bianchini. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1990.
episode 4: The Birth of Venus
Legouix, Susan. Botticelli.
London: Chaucer, 2004.
Lightbown, Ronald.
Botticelli: Life & Work. New
York: Abbeville Press, 1989.
Swinglehurst, Edmund. The Life and Works
of Botticelli. Bristol: Paragon, 1994.
Zollner, Frank. Botticelli: Images of Love
and Spring. Trans. Fiona Elliott. New York:
Prestel, 1998.
episode 5: Boy Bitten by a Lizard
Hunt, Patrick. Caravaggio.
London: Haus, 2004.
Athene, 2005.
Mancini, Giulio, Giovanni
Baylione, and Giovanni
Pietro Bellori. Lives of
Caravaggio. London: Pallas
Prose, Francine. Caravaggio: Painter of
Miracles. New York: Atlas/HarperCollins,
2005.
Sgarbi, Vittorio. Caravaggio. New York:
Rizzoli International Publishers, 2007.
episode 6: Mona Lisa
McMullen, Roy. "Mona
Lisa": The Picture and the
Myth. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1975.
Mohen, Jean-Pierre, Michel
Menu, and Bruno Mottin. "Mona Lisa":
Inside the Painting. New York: Abrams,
2006.
Sassoon, Donald. Becoming "Mona Lisa":
The Making of a Global Icon. New York:
Harcourt, 2001.
Scotti, R.A. Vanished Smile: The Mysterious
Theft of the "Mona Lisa." New York: Knopf,
2009.
17
episode 7: Le déjeuner sur l’herbe
Armstrong, Carol. Manet
Manette. Princeton: Yale
University Press, 2002.
King, Ross. The Judgment
of Paris: The Revolutionary
Decade that Gave the World
Impressionism. New York: Walker & Co.,
2007.
Locke, Nancy. Manet and the Family
Romance. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2001.
Zeri, Federico. Manet, "Le déjeuner sur
l’herbe." Richmond Hill, Ont.: NDE, 1999.
episode 8: The Arnolfini Marriage
Borchert, Till-Holger. Jan
van Eyck: Renaissance
Realist. Los Angeles:
Taschen, 2008.
Graham, Jenny. Inventing
van Eyck: The Remaking of an Artist for the
Modern Age. New York: Berg, 2007.
Seidel, Linda. Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini
Portrait: Stories of an Icon. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Simpson, Amada. Van Eyck: The Complete
Works. London: Chaucer Press, 2007.
Booklet written and edited by Joseph D. Younger and Elizabeth Stocum. © 2009 Acorn Media Group, Inc.

athenalearning.com
MorE froM AthEnA
VolorPe rostrud
eugAit lore fAcin
lore facin eumsandre cortis
nissequam adit ute eum ing
—Big Publication
After NAzi GermANy iNvAdes the British Channel islands in the summer of 1940,
the occupiers and the occupied settle into an uneasy coexistence. But when does cooperation
become collaboration for islanders just trying to survive? How tolerant can the German
commandant be before falling under the suspicious eye of Berlin?
this gripping British drama series tells of the stresses and strains, loyalties and loves of
civilians and soldiers alike, in a world where shades of gray blur the hard line between
black and white. Passion battles against restraint. Pragmatism struggles with principle. And
internal conflicts rage as fiercely as those on the battlefield. Ultimately, both sides find they
are compromised as much by the actions of their compatriots as they are by the enemy that
is always at the door.
Alfred Burke (Public eye) and Bernard Horsfall (On Her majesty’s secret service) star, with
guest stars including John Nettles (midsomer murders) and Anthony stewart Head (tv’s
Buffy the vampire slayer).
dvd sPeCiAL feAtUre iNCLUdes Historcal Background on the Channel islands.
13 episodes • approx. 663 min. • 4:3 full screen • color • British drama • AMP-8167
TheAdventure of
ENGLISH
TheAdventure of
ENGLISH
As seen on the
Discovery Channel
TED KOPPEL
takes an in-depth
look at the economic
ties that bind the U.S.
to China.
EngagE your mind | Expand your world
Visit our website for more extras that take
the educational experience beyond the screen.
athenalearning.com